Superior proteome stability in the longest lived animal

• Published in: AGE
• Main Authors: Treaster, S. B., Ridgway, I. D., Richardson, C. A., Gaspar, M. B., Chaudhuri, A. R., Austad, S. N.
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: Springer Netherlands 2013
• Subjects: Article; Arctica islandica
• Online Access: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4082568/; http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24254744; https://doi.org/10.1007/s11357-013-9597-9

Bivalve mollusks have several unique traits, including some species with exceptionally long lives, others with very short lives, and the ability to determine the age of any individual from growth rings in the shell. Exceptionally long-lived species are seldom studied yet have the potential to be particularly informative with respect to senescence-resistance mechanisms. To this end, we employed a range of marine bivalve mollusk species, with lifespans ranging from under a decade to over 500 years, in a comparative study to investigate the hypothesis that long life requires superior proteome stability. This experimental system provides a unique opportunity to study closely related organisms with vastly disparate longevities, including the longest lived animal, Arctica islandica.